Abby's First Lesson
by LittleGiblet
Summary: Abby, in an attempt to cover a mistake, lies to Gibbs. Set early in Abby's NCIS career. Will contain spanking.
1. Chapter 1

It had been three weeks since she had eaten a square meal, two weeks since she had slept more than four hours, and one week s

I've attempted to write Abby several times, but this is my first time actually posting an Abby story. I find writing Ziva to be easier- which is funny, because I'm an over-caffeinated goth… but hopefully this rings-semi true. This first chapter is a lot of set up. I plan to have more dialogue and interaction between Abby and Gibbs later. Thanks for reading, please review!

-Piper

It had been three weeks since she had eaten a square meal, two weeks since she had slept more than four hours, and one week since she could hold something in her hand without trembling.

Still, all in all, Abby Scuito loved her new job. She loved being able to tell people she worked at NCIS. Even though few eyes lit up in recognition, they were still impressed when she explained the significance. She felt like a grown up, an adult, making her mark on the world.

Abby had been working at NCIS for four weeks; and one hour, two minuets and thirty six seconds ago, she had lied to her boss. She was in a huge mess, and she couldn't see a way out.

Abby had always been confident in her abilities as a scientist, she had raced through school at the top of her class and she was accepted into every grad school that she applied for. She excelled in her internships; she came to NCIS highly recommended.

The job description read like the dream job that she had invented for herself when she first began studying Forensic Science. She had wanted it badly enough to wear the awful blue suit that her favorite professor had given to her at graduation. She put on the black pumps that she couldn't walk in, and she tried her best to remain serious and calm- naturally she was neither.

She won over four of the five people on the panel easily; they listened intently as she spoke of her experience.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat with his head down, absent mindedly sketching on the notebook he had been handed on his way in. He asked her one question, after the panel had grilled her on every aspect of her field:

"How many tattoos do you have?"

She had tried to cover the spider-web tattoo on her neck with her shirt collar, but it peaked out when she shifted position.

"I," she had hesitated momentarily, considering saying that the visible tattoo was her only tattoo, but after making eye-contact with the intimidating man, she blurted out the truth. He raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

She wished that she had been that smart today.

Gibbs had just begun to warm up to her, he called her by her _actual_ first name, and some late nights he even slipped a coffee cup in her hand.

She still quickly buttoned her lab coat when she heard him entering the lab. One blue suit doesn't go very far when you work five days a week, and so she had reverted back to her usual style of dress- but Gibbs didn't need to know that.

The team had been working on the same case for the past three weeks, the kidnapping of a four and six year old pair of sisters. The four year-old's body was found in the woods, but the six year had yet to be recovered. The killer had called the girl's family repeatedly, taunting them, claiming that the six year old was still alive.

Gibbs had brought a large box of recently recovered evidence down to Abby, giving her orders to go through every item, looking for prints and DNA evidence.

Abby, eager to please her boss, had gone through the evidence as quickly as she could while still being thorough.

She had managed to lift a partial finger print on the plastic necklace that the four-year had been wearing when she was kidnapped.

What actually happened after that was fuzzy. Abby's computer had malfunctioned, and she lost the data from the finger print. When she went back to attempt to lift the print again, the necklace was missing.

She looked everywhere; unable to understand how she could have lost the necklace in her lab- she always knew where everything was.

Her heart sank when Gibbs walked in, demanding information.

She had stalled, trying to appease him with the information she had gathered from the other evidence - which was nothing.

"Abby, tell me you've got something more than that."

"I'm really sorry, Gibbs… I can test it all again, see if I missed something?"

"You didn't miss anything." He said it with such confidence, as though he completely believed in her abilities. For a moment Abby felt the familiar warm feeling that one gets when a teacher praises you, but it didn't last long, as she quickly remembered the predicament that she was in.

Gibbs turned to leave, but his eyes stopped on the empty evidence bag that had once contained the necklace. "What about that?"

Abby thought of herself as an honest person, she was a terrible liar, and so she hardly ever even tried to deceive. But her love of her job, and her desire for Gibb's approval overrode her moral center.

"That was empty, when it came in," she turned around, pretending to focus on her computer, "it's marked necklace- but there wasn't anything in it." She felt nauseous immediately, like the time she had downed a twenty-four ounce cherry slushee before spinning around for a half an hour in one of those cool office rolley chairs.

Gibbs eyebrows furrowed, "I'll look into that. Thanks Abby."

She nodded meekly, wishing that that whole day had never happened.


	2. Chapter 2

This one is kind of short, the next chapter will be longer. Reviews keep me off drugs. That is all.

-Piper

Abby stared at the colorful plastic necklace in front of her. She had combed every inch of her lab, before walking to the refrigerator to grab a Red-Bull, hoping that it would help her wake up her exhausted mind.

She had opened the refrigerator door, and there in the cup holder on the inside of the door, sat the necklace. She had absolutely no idea how it had come to be there. As much as she had enjoyed the past four weeks, the lack of sleep and healthy food had taken it's toll on her.

She was able to think of many clever excuses as to how she could have happened upon the necklace, but as she stared at it, she remembered the four year old girl whom it had belonged to. The crime scene photos were horrific, the worst she had seen, and she had been more worried about her career and Gibbs's approval than finding that little girl's killer.

Abby sighed, tearing up a bit at the idea of her NCIS position ending so abruptly, but if she wanted to be able to look at herself in the mirror and maintain her self-image, she was going to have to step up and tell the truth. She was ready to accept responsibility for her actions.

That didn't mean that she was ready to face Gibbs. That idea was terrifying. She briefly considered leaving him a note explaining the situation and her decision to resign, but that was a cowardly thing to do, and Abigail Scuito wasn't a coward. She could play hide and seek in a cemetery at night without feeling uneasy for God's sake, she was brave, damn it!

She stalled for a half an hour, re-lifting the print off the necklace and starting the database search again. Only after she was sure that there was nothing left that she could work did Abby leave her lab and venture up to Gibbs desk.

He was on the phone when she made her way over to him, stopping in front of his desk to wait for him to finish, she folded her hands and bowed her head.

"Okay, yeah, I'll call you when I know more." Gibbs hung up the phone and looked up at her.

"What do you need, Abby?"

"To talk to you."

Her voice sounded small and weak to her own ears, but Gibbs didn't seem to notice, he got up from his chair and crooked a finger at her, indicating that she should follow.

They walked to the elevator in silence; the hustle and bustle seemed to move in slow motion to Abby. Gibbs held the door with his hand, allowing Abby to walk in first.

As soon as the doors shut, he pulled the emergency stop switch before turning around to face her.

"You find it yet?"

Abby's heart stopped. He knew, and judging by his dangerously low voice, he wasn't happy. Abby took a deep breath, and then she pulled the necklace, which she had placed back in the evidence bag, out of her lab coat pocket.

"It's here," she handed it to him, "I re-lifted the print, and there is a database search running now."

Gibbs nodded, looked over the necklace and then handed it back.

"What really happened?"

"I…I…Uh, well," Abby stuttered, unable to find the right words for exactly what had happened.

"Spit it out!"

"I lost it in my lab, and I didn't know what to do when you came in," Abby spoke rapidly, "so I lied to you, I found it, I ran the database search, and I was coming up here to tell you the truth, I swear."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

Abby flinched at the coolness in his tone, "No, I guess not."

"Go back to your lab and wait for me there."

Abby groaned inwardly, she had hoped that this ordeal would be over soon. At that moment she wanted nothing more then to go home and cry herself to sleep.

"Yes, sir."

Gibbs didn't correct her, even though he hated being called Sir, he just hit the emergency stop button again.

"I must say," he caught her eyes for moment, "this is very disappointing, Scuito."

Abby's eyes flickered with tears as she watched him exit the elevator.


	3. Chapter 3

I have been combing this for typos for thirty mins, sorry, I'm done... I hope the mistakes don't make it unreadable I'd really love feedback on this chapter, anything you think could be better, ect. Thanks for reading!

-Piper

Abby fiddled around on the computer, she checked her email, and replied to four days worth of messages. Gibbs had left her down in her lab waiting for a little over an hour, and the suspense was killing her.

She couldn't believe how much she had managed to screw up in the last few hours. Her heart felt like it had been ripped in half. Gibbs's words played over and over in her mind. _"This is very disappointing." _Some how, the fact that she had let her boss down was weighing her down more then the prospect of being jobless.

Abby really admired Gibbs. Sure, he gruff and hard, but he was damned good at his job, and his biting comments almost always brought a smile to her face (as long as they weren't directed at her.) She could have learned a lot from him.

When Abby heard the lab doors open, she jumped up out of her chair and stood at "attention." She teetered on her heeled boots as she tried to stand up straight. She couldn't bring herself to look up, but she could feel Gibbs's eyes on her.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

Abby wasn't prepared to answer, she had figured that Gibbs's just fire her and tell her to gather her things.

"I, um," she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "I lifted the print from the necklace, and then I started a database search. The computer freaked out, and so I had to shut it down… I went to grab the necklace, to re-test it, and I couldn't find it."

"Where did you find it?"

"The refrigerator," Gibbs raised his eyebrows,"- I have no idea how it got there!"

Abby laced her fingers together and stared at her hands.

"Anything else?"

"Well," Abby cocked her head, her curiosity getting the better of her, "How did you know I lost the necklace?"

"You shouldn't lie."

Abby nodded emphatically, "I know, but-"

"No, _you_ shouldn't- anyone with half a brain would be able to tell."

Abby's cheeks reddened, "I don't ever lie.. like, _ever.._"

Gibbs studied her for a moment before nodding, "I believe you."

Abby's eyes widened in surprise, "You do? Why?"

"You are telling the truth."

Abby was thoroughly confused, but Gibbs didn't give her time to mull over it.

"You should have told me immediately, I wouldn't have been happy, but we would have found it."

"I don't know why I did it."

"Yes you do." Gibbs pulled a chair out; he sank down into it in front of Abby. "You are going to tell me why."

"I…" Abby felt a trickle of sweat racing down her temple.

"Hey," Gibbs interrupted her, "At Ease."

It took Abby a minuet to figure out that Gibbs's was referring to her posture; she slid her feet closer together and leaned her back against the computer table.

"I just… I felt so stupid. I really liked this job. Losing evidence is a serious offense. I wanted to find it before anyone found out I had lost it."

Gibbs kept his face blank, but internally, he was surprised that he hadn't had to push Abby harder, apparently she opened up easily.

"Then you came in," she continued, "I didn't want you to know that I screwed up so bad, you …"

"I what?"

"You-said-that-I-didn't-miss-anything-like-you-really-knew-that-I-didn't-and I-felt-like-I-was-actually-a-part-of- your-team."

Gibbs didn't catch every word, but he got the gist of it.

"So you decided to lie to me."

"It was stupid. I was more worried about myself than the case. I felt really bad, that's why I went up to tell you..."

Gibbs ran a calloused hand over his face; to Abby he almost looked torn. They sat in silence for a minuet before Abby, unable to take it, spoke up.

"Am I fired?"

Gibbs stood up and began to pace.

"If we do this by the books, we'll have to pull the panel into it; they will review your offense and decide on appropriate action."

"So I'll be fired."

"Most likely."

"And if we don't go by the books?"

"We'll handle it my way," Gibbs stopped pacing, "I will punish you, and your slate will be wiped clean."

Abby felt as though a huge bourdon had been lifted of her shoulders. She could come out of this without losing her beloved job.

"I'll do anything."

"Don't make up your mind yet, sit down," he ordered firmly.

Abby did, but she didn't care what Gibbs had in mind for punishment, as long as she could continue to work at NCIS.

"What you did was incredibly stupid and childish, the only thing keeping me from firing your ass is the fact that you intended to confess."

Abby nodded.

"Now, I have an unusual method of dealing with discipline on my team, it's the way I was taught in the Navy- it's different, but effective."

"Push ups?" Abby asked, panicking a little- her upper arm strength left something to be desired- they could be there all night.

Gibbs chuckled under his breath, but Abby didn't hear it.

"No." He walked over to the lab's storage drawers and fished around in the top one, pulling out the item that he was looking for.

Abby stared blankly at the wooden ruler in Gibbs's hand before realization spread across her face.

"Oh. Where…" Abby played absentmindedly with her palms, "Will it be…"

Gibbs wasn't sure how he was able to follow the girl's strange train of thought, but he knew what she was asking.

"What do you think would be appropriate?'

That was an impossible question. "I don't know… I've never done this before. I… What would be appropriate?" Abby squirmed under Gibbs's gaze, "I mean, if the punishment is to fit the crime, technically you'd have to wash my mouth out with soup… my mom used to do that-it was awful."

Gibbs watched Abby babble with amusement. It seemed her internal monologue was often external.

"Oh, God," Her eyes shut up to his in a panic, worried that she had given him another idea. "You aren't going to do that too, are you?

"Don't tempt me, Scuito."

Abby threw her arms up in the air, looking dejected, "What do you usually do?" Gibbs took pity on her and stood up, deciding not to force her to choose her own punishment.

"Take off your lab coat."

Abby did as she was told, revealing her pinstripe skirt and thermal skull top. Gibbs's eyes looked her up and down.

"New look?"

Abby shook her head sheepishly, "Same look. I don't really own anything work friendly."

"There is no dress code for our Lab Technicians; you can wear what you want."

"Even_ this_?" Abby sounded skeptical.

"Even that," Gibbs took a step closer to Abby, returning his focus to the matter at hand. "Bend over the table."

Abby hesitated. She had been so excited by the prospect of keeping her job that the fact that she was about to be spanked hadn't exactly sunk in. Her stomach did flip flops as she tried to remember the last time she had been spanked. She couldn't have been more then ten, the offense had been her constantly running mouth, and her teacher had finally had enough. She paddled her. Abby couldn't remember the pain. She had wanted to use a riding crop in play, but she hadn't yet found a boyfriend with the guts apply it.

"Today." Gibbs's stern voice broke her thoughts.

Abby had been the most popular girl on the playground for a week in the sixth grade; she taught all of the other kids every curse word she knew- in sign language. The children had delighted in cursing in front of their unassuming teachers.

Abby employed that talent now, signing her long list of curse words in an attempt to calm the feeling in her stomach. She didn't notice Gibbs's watching her hands intently.

"You shouldn't talk like that at work," Abby looked up at him in shock, Gibbs continued, signing this time. _"It's very unprofessional." _

"_You sign?"_ Abby wracked her brain, trying to remember what all she had signed to herself over the past four weeks. She prayed that she hadn't physically expressed her love of Gibbs's blue eyes.

"_Sure do."_

"Cool." Abby smiled weakly.

"Turn around."

Abby obeyed, she braced her arms on the table, silently hoping that she would be able to take her punishment with issue.

Without warning, Gibbs brought the ruler down against her backside, Abby jumped from the loud SMACK! before the pain set it. It definitely hurt, more then Abby had expected. The ruler came down again, painting a thick red line across Abby's bottom. She definitely wouldn't be sitting comfortably for awhile.

"I hope," SMACK! "That this," SMACK! "Sinks in." SMACK!

Abby cried out, as tears rushed down her cheeks.

"You are," SMACK! "Too talented," SMACK "To ruin your career," SMACK! "By acting like a scared child." SMACK!

"You," Abby choked back a sob, "think I'm talented?"

"It doesn't," SMACK "matter what I think," SMACK "What do you think?"

Abby stayed silent. Gibbs brought the ruler down harder.

"Ow! I am talented."

"I'm glad to hear you say that."

Gibbs gave her one more stroke with the ruler before he set it aside. Abby turned around to face him. She tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks but they continued flowing. Gibbs put his hand gently on her shoulder, trying to soothe her sobs.

"Thanks so much for not firing me…" Abby impulsively threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She tried to pull away when she realized what she had done, but his arms found their away around her, holding her in place.

Gibbs was surprised by how easily Abby fit into his arms. The embrace felt familiar, and it wasn't awkward.

"Are you ever going to be able to trust me again?" Abby lifted her head up to look at him, even though she was dreading the possible answer.

"We'll get there."

That was good enough for Abby. She hugged him again.

"You said that I'm talented." Her voice was muffled by his shirt, but he could hear the mischievous grin in it. He had to admit that her child-like irrepressibility was endearing.

"I did." Gibbs gently pushed her away from him. "Take the rest of the day off."

"But," Abby sputtered, "the case?"

"You put an important piece of evidence in the refrigerator. I think you need to rest."

Abby couldn't argue with that, even if she wanted too, so she settled for pouting ever-so-slightly.

"I will call you if we need your help."

That was enough to appease her; she didn't think that fighting with her boss was the smartest move at the moment.

"You said I'm talented." She quipped brightly.

"Go. Or I'll be saying a lot more then that."

"Okay. Fine._ Talented_ Forensic Specialist Abby Scuito will report to bed."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, but he had to bite back a grin. He made a mental note to praise the young Goth more often. He wasn't big on positive reinforcement, but if it helped Abby do her job to the best of her abilities, he would work on that.

"_You ever lie to me again, and I'll make sure you don't sit for a month."_ Gibbs's signed.

"_I won't let you down again."_

"Goodnight, Abby."


End file.
